It's state indoor meet week in Louisiana! This week, for the first time all season, a team championship trophy will be handed out on Saturday evening at the Car Maddox Fieldhouse.
Yesterday, we broke down the Catholic Bears, who are the heavy favorite in Division I boys. If you missed that article, you can access it at the link below.
LHSAA STATE INDOOR MEET: Catholic Bears Locked and Loaded
Today, we are focusing on the defending Division I girls champion- St. Joseph's Academy.
Last year, LSU's Michelle Daigle and Alexandria Stewart led the Stickers to the state championship. But Coach Vernon Langley lost the two seniors to graduation.
While he has missed their leadership, Langley has enjoyed coaching freshman Emoiree Rogers, who leads Division I in the long jump (18-7.5) and is ranked No. 2 in the triple jump (36-5).
Many coaches would be worried about the pressure placed on a freshman in their first state indoor meet with a title on the line, but Rogers is no stranger to the big stage as she has competed in numerous junior olympic national championships.
Another jumper to watch is Kennedy Papillion, who took last year off and is back doing some big things for the Stickers. Papillon has a season best of 5-8. She is ranked No. 1 in the high jump and will try to defeat the defending state champion in the event-John Curtis' Addilyn Dufrene.
While Rogers and Papillion are penciled in for 28 points. Coach Langley would love it if two other jumpers could add to the Sticker point production in the jumps. Sophomore Wesly Lipari is ranked No. 5 in the long jump with a season best of 17-5.5, and Foster Yan-Hamby is ranked No. 6 in Division I with a best jump of 9-6.
In the sprints, the Stickers are counting on sophomore Amalia Terry-Lee, who is ranked No. 2 in Division I with a season best of 7.67 in the 60m. Terry-Lee is also qualified in the 400m where she is ranked No. 14.
One thing about the 400m ranking is that Lafayette, who appears to be the team that the defending champions should be the most concerned about, has four sprinters ranked in the top 10.
In the distance events, where St. Joseph's is usually loaded, the Sticker distance cupboard is not bare, but lacking the star power from years' past. SJA will be led by Audrey Manda, who is ranked in the top 11 of the 800m (No. 11; 2:27), 1600m (No. 10; 5:29), and 3200m (No. 9; 11:51). Manda looks to play a key role in SJA's title defense on Saturday.
SJA's top-ranked runner is the distance events is junior Hope Lemoine (No. 8; 11:48) in the 3200m.
If the chalk holds in the relays, the Stickers are scheduled to score 22 points in the three relays. St. Joseph's is ranked No.2 in the 4x200m (1:43.38). Zachary, which broke the meet record at the McNeese Indoor No. 2, leads the state with a time of 1:42.95. In the 4x800m, SJA (9:57) is ranked No.2 behind Lafayette (9:51).
Will it come down to the final event of the meet in the girls' Division I? There is a very good possibility of this scenario playing out. St. Joseph's ranks third behind Lafayette (3:55) and Zachary (4:05).
If you have been scoring at home. We have the Stickers down for 30 points in the jumps, 24 points in the relays, and 10 points in the running events.
That's a total of 64 points. We think the Lions of Lafayette will be in the 60s as well. It will make for a fun Division I girls' race to the team championship.